The Digital Fix: Film

Close Encounters of the Third Kind R2 30th AE in December - Artwork added

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition on 3rd December 2007 priced at £22.99 RRP. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic this set incorporates all three versions of the film, including the first-ever home video release of the 1977 Original Theatrical edition, as well as the re-edited 1980 theatrical Special Edition and Spielberg’s definitive Director’s Cut (released in 1998 as the Collector’s Edition). Bonus material on the 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition includes a never-before-seen interview with Spielberg created specifically for this release, a retrospective documentary and more.

The Original Theatrical version of Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released on screens in 1977 and was never available on home video. Spielberg released a re-edited Special Edition theatrically and on VHS in 1980 wherein he deleted several smaller scenes and added other sequences including scenes of Dreyfuss inside the alien mother ship at the end of the film. In 1998, the Collector’s Edition was released on home video with a limited theatrical run and featured Spielberg’s definitive director’s cut with changes, some small and subtle, as well as a change eliminating the interior mother ship scenes from the end of the Special Edition, thus restoring the original ending. The Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition is the first collection to include all three versions of the film.

The DVD box set, spread across three discs, contains all three films and a selection of new bonus features which include a new interview with Steven Spielberg (Steven Spielberg: 30 Years of Close Encounters), a new 90-minute making-of documentary and the 1977 featurette “Watch the Skies”.

The film (all three versions) is presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with English DD5.1 and DTS 5.1 Surround audio. Subtitles are available in English, English HOH, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hindi, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish.

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